ESCAPE TO ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST // INSPIRED BY BOXED WATER #RETREE

Life is but a dream in the City of Angels. When us Angelenos reflect on how fortunate we are to live in such an incredible and diverse place, one of the first things we all agree on is that it doesn’t get any better than having immediate access to the best of what California has to offer: beach/mountains/desert and FORESTS. I feel like I’ve experienced quite a bit within the LA county borders, more than your average Angeleno one might say, but before last week I’d never been to the Angeles National Forest, nor even knew it existed.

I was actually recently inspired to find my nearest forest thanks in part to Boxed Water and learning more about their inspiring ReTree Project. Through this initiative the brand plants two trees for every social post on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter that features their product with hashtag #ReTree. In partnership with the National Forest Foundation, the goal of their ReTree Project is to plant ONE MILLION trees within a five-year period. This year alone they’re planting trees in the Sierra National Forest, Stanislaus National Forest, and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest – they’re already up to over 500k trees!

Boxed Water is a brand many of us (Angelenos especially) are familiar with – who doesn’t love those cute mini “milk cartons” that happened to be filled with refreshing water? Not only is Boxed Water a brand and product I genuinely personally enjoy, but they’re a brand on a mission to do some good. Founded on the belief that sustainability matters, those recognizable cartons are more than pretty to look at, they represent the brands purpose to approach packaged water in a more sustainably way. AND their cartons are made using paper from well-managed forests, where new trees are continuously planted to replace the ones harvested.

Call me crazy but I care about this planet, I care about trees, and I care about trying to make even the smallest of positive impacts on our environment. So naturally this project really spoke to me and completely inspired me to get out there and appreciate LA’s more natural side. Angeles National Forest is about an hour away from Mid-City, and trust me once you get there, it’s like you’ve entered a whole other state. I didn’t really quite know what to expect in terms of the landscape (wether it’d be hot, cold, forest-y, shrub-y, etc.), but I was absolutely fascinated to find that it was about 30 degrees cooler, rainy, lush, and absolutely breathtaking.

My boyfriend/adventure buddy and I decided to take a hike near the Switzer Picnic Site because we’d learned that somewhere along this “relatively easy” 3.1 mile trail there’s a beautiful waterfall to see. Can’t say we found it, I think we found the back of it (we’re outdoor and hiking rookies), but the trail itself was out of this world spectacular. You’re walking alongside a stream, crossing it by hoping rocks from time to time, and just being surrounded by the most beautifully tall oak and alder trees. There’s so much to appreciate, so much sheer beauty to take in, and an extraordinary experience to be had in the Angeles National Forest.

When it comes to helping do our part for the planet, you can join the Retree Project in three really easy ways:

You can post an Instagram photo of your Boxed Water, hashtag #retree, and Boxed Water will plant 2 trees.

You can subscribe to Boxed Water’s newsletter, and they’ll plant 2 trees.

You can buy Boxed Water online and they will plant 6 trees.

I’m joining in on the initiative myself, and I hope you will too. Get out to Angeles National Forest and let me know you’re with us!

Disclosure: this post was created in partnership with Boxed Water, but as always these are genuine opinions and belong only to me. Thank you for supporting the wonderful brands/companies who support and allow me to bring you fresh and community driven content on the reg!